Bowling
by FlawlessCaskett
Summary: The team of the 12th decides to spend an evening together, Beckett is not sure if she approves of the activities. Well, the title is rather uncreative and I suck at summaries, but I hope you'll still give it a read ;) COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **The idea for this little story came to me a while ago, but I didn't manage to form it into coherent sentences til now. But here you go with the first part of... well, some more ;) Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated, taking compliments as well as constructive criticism :)

* * *

Bowling

Every once in a while, the team of the 12th - including their inofficial member Richard Castle and their more than official captain Victoria Gates - decides to spend an evening together as friends rather than colleagues. Therefore they do something fun, they meet for a drink in the Old Haunt or play a round of pool. Today Ryan brought up the idea to go bowling, getting a mix of more and less convinced reactions.

Especially Beckett still seems rather not amused, even though everybody else already agreed. Sighing heavily she turns around to her own desk again, getting a smug grin from Castle.

"Well, Detective, is there any specific reason for you not to like tonight's activity? Oh, wait, let me guess, you're terrible at bowling? But, don't worry, I will offer my irresistible expertise and teach you how to bring the pins to fall?"

Another of these self-confident smiles that light up his whole face and a glance to the boys, who give him sceptical shakes of their heads. He punishes them with a sulky look and turns back to Beckett, who lifts her eyebrow in that familiar way.

"Really, Castle, you couldn't think of a cornier pick up line?"

That actually gets a chuckle from Ryan and Esposito which Castle in return answers with a snort, otherwise ignoring them.

"Your choice if you wanna embarrass yourself . Not going to ask you again."

"My loss." She watches him walking towards the break room, obviously being deeply wounded by her turning down his generous offer. Maybe she'll make it up to him later tonight.

* * *

An hour after she finally finished the stack of paperwork crowding her desk, Kate finds herself entering the bar that houses the bowling alleys, the smell of cigarettes mingling with beer and people and the all too well-known sound of the bowling ball crashing in the pins surrounding her. She missed this. Just a little. She hasn't been bowling since college, since she left her team after totally screwing up in an important competition because of some guy whose name she doesn't even remember.

Being back to the game brings mixed feelings she pushes aside before joining the others who are sitting in a corner booth waiting for her. When she takes her seat next to Castle, she feels him squeeze her knee as compensation for the kiss they missed because of her captain's presence.

After ordering their drinks and some snacks the group moves their party to the table in front of one of the alleys and changes their shoes. Castle smiles at the height difference caused by Kate not wearing heels, since he usually only gets her to see without them, when they are at either of their apartments. As much as he loves her wearing shoes that require a gun license, he also enjoys her in flats because it takes away some of her sometimes smashing cop appearance and makes her look rather cute and kind.

Castle opens the first round of bowling with a spare and turns around to the others, arms thrown up in a triumphant gesture. "Ha, what did I tell you? You better watch out, the champion is in the house!" Smugly grinning he takes the seat between Ryan and Kate and leans closer to the latter, almost whispering in her ear. "Still not interested in that lesson?"

Although his deep and throaty voice gets to her in a way she'd rather not show in front of her colleagues, despite the warmth settling low in her belly when only thinking about _how_ close he actually is (_too close._), Kate manages to answer as fast and snappy as always. "I think you're kind of overestimating your qualities, Mr. Castle."

"Didn't hear you complaining- " He shoots a look around, making sure that nobody (especially Gates) is paying attention. " -between screaming my name last night, my dear Detective." His long exhale tickles her neck and a small smirk plays around the corners of his mouth while she is just breathless about how he can so easily talk about the very private moments they shared without having to pin her down on the next flat surface. Because she'd enjoy that a lot right now. Not here of course. Hell, even here if it means that he does the things to her, he did to her yesterday. Wicked man. Evil man.

Before she gets a chance to react somehow, her attention is drawn to her Captain, who is about to throw her bowling ball when Esposito sneezes unnaturally and Gates' ball drops on the alley to roll agonizingly slowly towards the pins just to change it's direction mere inches before it hits them and lands in the gutter without even attempting to knock one of the pins over.

The boys high-five each other whereas Kate and Lanie both politely try to hide their smiles until they see the stare Gates gives Ryan, Esposito and Castle (If looks could kill...), then break into laughter at the frightened expression of five-year-old girls on the boy's faces. The three murmur their excuses while the captain already turns around again to get her second bowl done. Oh, she's angry. Kate sees that in the way the muscles in the woman's back contract as she aims her shot. That's going to be a funny evening. Poor Castle. Well, he kinda deserves it though.

When Kate's turn is next, she nervously stands up, getting a reassuring smile from Castle, that she interprets as encouragement to make the best of her lacking abilities. If only her abilities were lacking. She could always just fail on purpose. But that would so not be Kate. So she decides to just go for it and if needed downplay it as beginner's luck.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **First of all, thank you for all the lovely reviews, I enjoyed every single one of them, keep up with that. :)  
And I wanted to give that story place in the chronology of season five, I would put it some time mid-season, but before 5x21/22.  
Have fun with the new chapter and if you feel like it, tell me what you think about it.

* * *

For the maybe billionth time in the five years he spent with Kate Beckett, he wondered how that woman was even real and - lately more often - how he deserved that gorgeous, smart and sexy human being that never failed to surprise him, when often he was such a dummy himself.

Did he seriously offer her to show her how to bowl? Because the second he saw the Detective picking her ball so confidently, self-assured, so without the smallest doubt that she would kick their asses, Castle knew that Beckett was a pro and that _she_ would be the one teaching _him_ a lesson.

He would congratulate her and make a comment about how she fooled all of them with her silence about her skills, if he wasn't currently speechless and totally unable to close his mouth, to draw his shamelessly staring eyes off her. The way her hips sway as she walks in his direction now that she finished her turn. With a strike. What else. That woman. Is going to kill him.

Castle still hasn't recovered from watching her taking the ball - oh can she handle balls - slipping her slim fingers in the holes lascivious (or was he only thinking of it as lascivious because he knows what she can do with these fingers?) and then turning towards the alley to swing her arm backwards in one swift movement until letting the ball gently touch the wood.

She is obviously trying to hide her pleased smile, but her eyes betray her, sparkle in amusement instead of showing self-consciousness. Raising an eyebrow at him, she says: "Stop picturing me naked and shut your mouth before you catch a fly, Castle!"

Did she wink at him?

She winked at him.

_Winked_ at him.

In public.

How is he supposed to survive that evening? Kate is going to have a lot of turns till they get to leave and she is going to enjoy every second of bending forward for her bowl while knowing that a certain wide-eyed author is watching with his jaw dropping to the floor at the way her slim fitting jeans stretch over her perfectly shaped ass. (She did _not_ change her dress pants for the pair of denim pants she keeps in the bottom drawer of her desk at the precinct on purpose, at least not for that one. She didn't.)

He can't think of a suitable answer, his words dying on his tongue before they have a chance to get out. So he goes for subtly shaking his head to sort his rushing thoughts and finally stands up and walks past her without even shooting a glance at her.

Not so convinced of his own abilities anymore, Castle now opens the second round, since Kate is the last one in the group. He tries very hard to ignore the bedroom eyes she just gave him and instead concentrates on taking accurate aim on the pins. The second he decides his positioning is right and starts to go back for his throw, he hears Kate's voice behind him. "Careful, Castle, don't want you release it too soon."

Being terribly startled by her sudden more than ambiguous interjection, his ball totally misses its target and immediately drifts to the gutter, where it rolls downwards the alley so slowly, that he feels like it's laughing at him. The laughter is actually very real, it's just originated elsewhere. The whole group is rolling in the aisles, even Gates can't hold back some chuckles. "Well, Mr. Castle, it's not so funny anymore now that your failure is in the focus, is it?"

Castle can practically sense the flow of blood into his head, his skin tone turning scarlet.

* * *

While Castle walks back to a seat the farthest from Kate both ashamed and offended (that stunt of hers shouts for revenge, but he's going to wait patiently until she doesn't expect it anymore), Lanie draws her closer.

"You might wanna stop making these goo-goo eyes at Castle simultaneously with the suggestive remarks, if you want to keep the fact that you finally made it between each others sheets from your boss, girlfriend."

This time, it's Kate's face that is adorned with a faint blush, her eyes briefly scan the room for Castle and then her captain who doesn't seem to notice. Yet.

"Oh."

"You're damn right 'oh', you could as well tatoo it over that beautiful face of yours."

She looks down at her hands but can't hold back the smile that creeps it's way on her lips at the thought of their behaviour. They tease each other like horny teenagers that can't get keep their desire tamed. Well, that actually isn't so far from the truth anyway. Being in this for almost a year now, it's kind of strange how they still can't get enough of each other, how every time feels so familiar and yet like the first time all over again.

"You look happy, honey." With Lanie's features softened, the taunting undertone to her voice disappeared, she sounds so delighted for her best friend, like she still can't believe that her girl eventually found someone who is truly good for her, good enough for her. Not everyone deserves her. She is a woman to be earned, that takes time to crack the shell with love and warmth. But once that cocoon opens and the butterfly that is Kate Beckett comes unstuck, she can make your life heaven. Lanie is glad to be one of the few who get to see her like this from time to time.

"I am. I _really_ am."

* * *

The dreamy grin on Kate's face widens, makes her lips curl up in that adorable way. He wants to kiss that grin. Whatever Lanie said to her, he is grateful for it, because every moment that is filled with Kate's smile is so very glorious and valuable for him. It soothes away his the pain of his ego and instead demands a smile of himself.

Happiness surrounds him inside and out.

Happiness caused by her.

Oh God, she makes him so happy.

And that almost makes him forget that she made him look like a fool. _Almost._

Payback's a bitch.


	3. Chapter 3

Although the others try hard to keep up, it soon gets pretty obvious that the main fight for the first place goes on between Castle and Beckett. Somewhere into the fifth turn of the group, Kate admitted to actually being part of a bowling team in her early college years, which got her a whine of Castle ("That is so not fair! Why didn't you tell us?") while Ryan and Esposito focussed on teasing her about it.

As Beckett excuses herself to the restroom after her next turn, Castle is momentarily distracted and misses his shot, the sway of her hips too distracting not to watch, then disappears towards the bar at the far end of the big room to get his drink refilled.

When he is sure that he isn't in sight of the others anymore he changes his direction to follow Beckett and wait for her in front of the restroom door. He doesn't dare going inside just in case there are other women in there which would make his situation uncomfortably embarrassing. The door opens a few seconds later and he immediately recognizes her dark curls and her small hands, so he doesn't hesitate before reaching for her wrist and pushing her up against the nearest wall.

"What the- Castle? What are you doing?"

"So, you thought you could come here and pretend to be just lucky enough to score on strike after another and rob me of my victory? My dear detective, I will have you know that you don't get to play on me."

After being caught off guard first, Kate fastly regains her poise and answers with his own words from earlier:

"Didn't hear you complaining last night..."

"That was dirty. I like it."

They are so close that their noses are almost brushing, the others breath tingling on their faces while they hold each others steady gazes. Something only the two of them can feel simultaneously pulls their lips together, their mouths meeting in a hot battle of tongues and teeth and lust.

The instant they meld in the kiss, Castle lets go and his hands start to roam over her body, running up and down her sides, finding the hem of her shirt and pushing underneath. Stumbling sideways, they end up almost falling through the swinging door of the otherwise empty restroom Kate exited only moments before. With the force of the brick wall hitting her back, she bites down on his lip, drawing blood that sends an excited shiver through her heated body. Her tongue starts to soothe the pain while she feels one of his hands dipping under the waistband of her pants and squeezing her ass hard enough that she is sure she'll find the imprint of his fingers in the cheek when she gets home tonight. A new wave of arousal pools low in her belly and she moans into his mouth, the sound muffled by his lips on hers.

Kate is now pushing against him, urging him towards the opposite wall, that turns out to be a row of sinks when Castle's elbow accidentally hits the faucet. The noise of the gush rips her out of her frantic need. Some clear thoughts finally enter her brain and she puts a hand on his chest to stop Castle when he tries to fuse their lips again.

"No no no no, Castle, not gonna happen. You're not going to take me up against some seedy restroom wall. Besides, I am not doing the walk of shame out there after the two of us being away so long that there aren't any innocent explanations for our absence left."

"Beck-e-ett..." he wails while still trying to get back to kissing her. But even though she is seriously considering just ignoring their surroundings and going on with what they started, Kate firmly intensifies the pressure against his chest to keep him from diving in again.

When she feels Castle's muscles relax under her touch she grips the collar of his shirt and pulls him a little closer again. "But maybe you get to take me home... if you win."

"Oh, so you'd be my trophy, huh?"

"In your dreams, Castle." She smirks at his expression, he looks like he is actually going through his Beckett-dream-file, before his mind seems to get back to her. His eyes settle on hers before he starts to speak earnestly.

"Well, then I guess I'm going to have to make short work of you so I can collect my reward."

Beckett leans in for a short last kiss and then makes her way out of the bathroom, leaving her shaken boyfriend behind.

* * *

Castle has to dash some water in his face to cool down, then rubs his hands over the day old stubble on his jaw and smiles at himself in the mirror. That woman.

Making a quick halt at the bar to grab a fresh beer for his cover, he rejoins the group. Except for Lanie, who is currently giving Kate a knowing look, nobody seems to have noticed their mysterious mutual disappearance. Lucky them.

When Beckett stands up to go for her next turn, Castle has to literally force his eyes from her body to prevent himself from jumping her right there, claiming her as his in front of their co-workers. Could she just stop walking towards the alley like a supermodel and does she have to bend over so damn slowly that it can't be meant for anything else then him to get even more aroused than he is already?

Of course Kate doesn't miss her bowl and instead scores a spare, which leaves Castle's last chance of winning the game - and his trophy - in doing a strike. Otherwise this little minx of a girlfriend would carry away the victory and he'd stay behind alone.

Kate walks past him, a triumphant grin on her lips, as she sits down again, totally relaxed, waiting for him to move, since he has to open the final round. Playing cool, he interlaces his fingers and stretches them away from his body, letting his knuckles crack in an exaggerated gesture of smugness. This earns him one of her all too familiar eyebrow lifts.

"Go and beat my pants off, Castle."

He swallows heavily, _his _own pants suddenly too tight again, but he tries hard not to let it show. Castle is in desperate need of concentration, he has to focus now. Because if he looses this game, he is never, _never_, going to hear the end of it.

* * *

Kate's chin is propped up in her right hand, elbow resting on her crossed legs while her fingers dance against her lips, doing a poor job of hiding her wide smile, the spark in her eyes giving her away anyway. After she made sure, that she isn't watched by her colleagues, she is now shamelessly staring on Castle's ass, that is almost screaming for attention while he's picking up a bowling ball.

Watching him bounce from one foot to the other and circling his head on his neck in order to centre his attention solely on the pins in front of him, Beckett finds herself bubbling on the inside at the goofiness of her partner, that kind of makes him even more adorable. Not that she was ever going to tell him that. His overinflated ego didn't need any more feeding.

Castle throws his arm back in a sweeping motion and takes the two steps to the alley with an almost ridiculous affected elegance, that made her close her eyes in vicarious embarrassment.

His bowl looks promising though, the ball rolling straight towards the pins. It hits them at exactly the right angle or so it seems at first, but in the last second one stubborn pin decides that it doesn't like Castle and remains standing, nine of its fallen companions scattered around it.

"Nooooo. You can't be serious! Did you-", Castle turns around to the group, "did you see that? That wicked thing did that on purpose!"

"Or it wasn't meant to be, bro." comes from Esposito, who is passing him, clapping him on the shoulder in more or less heartfelt sympathy.

* * *

The group parts after they finish their game, Beckett won with something around 20 points before Castle, who is obviously disappointed by his own failure, the teasing of the others not helping. Kate turns Esposito's offer to drive her home down and says, that she's going to accompany Castle on his walk and then taking a cab from there.

Standing in front of his building, he steps to the street, already lifting an arm to hail a cab, when she takes his outstretched hand and pulls him to his door.

"What are you doing? I thought I only get to take you home if I win?" he asks, adorably confused, since he seems to really have thought, that she would reject him.

"Well, yeah, but who said that I don't get anything, if _I_ win?"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading and stuff, I'd love to hear your feedback on that last part. Hope you enjoyed!**


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